“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― Maya Angelou

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Welcome to my blog! This is my journey, my first steps into the world of fictional writing. This blog is an online journal of sorts, where I share the progress of my work as well as what I have learned along the way. I hope you enjoy your time with me and that my experience may be of some use to you.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

BOOTCAMP LESSON 7: Modernization

Welcome back!

Time for the latest installment of BOOTCAMP! This month we have a very special Halloween inspired lesson, which will focus on how to modernize old characters and bring them up to date with today’s market. The game is appropriately called Revamp!

Lesson 7: Modernization

Horror is known for many of its classical protagonists, such as vampires, werewolves, ghosts and witches. Sadly, these characters have been done to death. Readers have grown so accustomed to these old staples of horror, that they have become indifferent to them. Publishers may be wary about accepting submissions involving these creatures, concerned that stories starring them will not do so well on the market.

It is therefore the writer's task to take these classic, pre-established monsters and recreate them in an original way, making them relevant to a modern audience. So let's dust them off and breath new life into them!

The goal of today’s writing game will be to take the offered candidates and find an interesting and different way of working them into a story, all while staying true to their original roots. (Please note that the following candidates are based off of modern day caricatures, and are in no way meant to reflect anyone's opinions)

So, here are today's guidelines!

Below are five "candidates" to work with.

Following each candidates are five popular, descriptive traits.

Write a short story for each candidate.

Each candidate must be modernized by changing their traits;

Three of their original traits must remained unchanged.

Two of their original traits must slightly modified.

One new and unrelated tait must be added.

Within each short story you will write, you must demonstrate how they differ from their original counterparts, while remaining true to the source material.

All five short story must have a limit of one page each.

Candidates:

Candidate 1: Vampires

Trait 1: Survive by biting the necks of their victims with their fangs, then draining them of blood.

Trait 2: Cannot be out in the sun or will burn to death.

Trait 3: Do not age and are basically immortal.

Trait 4: No reflections in mirrors.

Trait 5: Can manipulate the weak minded through hypnosis or a form of mind control.

Candidate 2: Werewolves

Trait 1: Is a human host cursed with Lycanthropy.

Trait 2: Transforms into a Human/Wolf hybrid.

Trait 3: Only transforms on the night of a full moon.

Trait 4: Can regenerate any kind of wound, even if fatal.

Trait 5: Can only be hurt with weapons made of silver.

Candidate 3: Ghosts

Trait 1: Invisible to the naked eye, though can be seen by children and animals.

Trait 2: Incorporeal, can walk through walls or float through floors.

Trait 3: Manifest themselves with the appearance and personality of the people they once were.

Trait 4: Can possess and control the living.

Trait 5: Can affect electronics.

Candidate 4: Zombies

Trait 1: Is a reanimated corpse, constantly hungry for the flesh of the living.

Trait 2: Bitten victims are stricken with a fever, die, then are revived as a zombie themselves.

Trait 3: Has little in terms of brain function beyond motor skills and recognition of prey.

Trait 4: Has no vital signs, sense of self-preservation and is not affected by injury or disease.

Trait 5: Can be killed by fire or destroying the brain.

Candidate 5: Witches

Trait 1: Are experts in the mystic arts, like spellcasting, curses and alchemy.

Trait 2: Practice magic through religion, such as satanism or paganism.

Trait 3: They have pet familiars, often in the forms of cats, rats, crows or so on.

Trait 4: Fly around on broomsticks.

Trait 5: Often prey on the weak, manipulating them through trickery.

For those who aren’t afraid to share their entries, feel free to submit your entries as a reply to this post. Remember, this is a game, so no posting bad comments about other people's entries. If some simply want to share in private, send me a message via twitter @OzmosisCoH.

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